Synthesises the results of the Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS), which has been studying the ocean carbon cycle for the past 15 years to quantify and model the biological and physical processes whereby CO2 is pumped from the ocean's surface to the depths of the ocean, where it can remain for hundreds of years. Covers all aspects of the topic ranging from air-sea exchange with CO2, the role of physical mixing, the uptake of CO2 by marine algae, the fluxes of carbon and nitrogen through the marine food chain to the subsequent export of carbon to the depths of the ocean. Special emphasis is laid on predicting future climatic change.
Introduction.- Biogeochemical Provinces: Towards a JGOFS Synthesis.- Physical Transport of Nutrients and the Maintenance of Biological Production.- Continental Margin Exchanges.- Phytoplankton and their Role in Primary, New and Export Production.- Carbon Dioxide Fluxes in the Global Ocean.- Water Column Biogeochemistry below the Euphotic Zone.- The Impact of Climate Change and Feedback Processes on the Ocean Carbon Cycle.- Benthic Processes and the Burial of Carbon.- Global Ocean Carbon Cycle Modeling.- Temporal Studies of Biogeochemical Processes Determined from Ocean Time-Series Observations during the JGOFS Era.- JGOFS: A Retrospective View.
From the reviews: "The volume consistently conveys both the importance of the ocean in the global carbon cycle and the uncertainty of the oceanic response to global change. ! The stated objective of The IGBP Series, to present key results of the JGOFS project, is accomplished. ! The design of the book is very attractive, the type clear, and the figure size appropriate. ! this volume provides a valuable state of the art of ocean biogeochemistry for those interested in the carbon cycle or climate change." (Mary-Elena Carr, Ecology, Vol. 85 (7), 2004)